From time to time people have told me that my description of one of Baxter’s quirks fits their cat to a tee. While I want to stand up for Baxter’s special character — after all, he is the best cat in all the world—I have to admit that he is part of a common species and shares much in common with his fellow feline friends. That doesn’t make him less loved and cherished. There will only be one Baxter for me, and he will always be remembered as special and unique. We have been through a lot together — five moves, the death of my parents, three different church positions, and a few illnesses, for starters. A shared history creates bonds that last long, even across species. Yet, with my fellow pet owners, I share common stories of why we love our animals. The particulars are unique, but together we and our pets have lived through a gamut of experiences—losses, challenges, worries and frustrations along with joys, adventures, celebrations and growth in recognizing what is truly valuable. Our pets have been our companions through these times. As such, they signal that there is meaning and purpose to our stories, and make the travel through time less burdensome, and even fun.
The Church is made up of companions in faith on the road to God’s Kingdom. While we each bring our particular personalities, customs and histories to this community, we come together because we share a common baptism in Christ. Our baptism identifies us as disciples called to a lifestyle and vision formed by our Catholic Christian faith. Too often we lose this shared sense of ourselves in the individualism of our American culture. We each want to stand out. We each want to claim ownership for what distinguishes our heritage in the faith. We think of ourselves as different because we think that makes us special and unique. We miss the point.
What makes us special and unique is what we share by entering together into the mystery of God’s life in baptism. When we are baptized we are each claimed as God’s own, never to be duplicated or dismissed. We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection so that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, neither our sin nor the power of evil in our world. It is this love which makes us unique, for it called us into life, sustains us through life’s trials and threats, and promises us eternal life in the end. Yet, the truth of this divine love is that it does not belong to me alone. God is manifest in the many different faces of the faithful, in their histories, customs and cultures. He sounds and looks differently according to our languages and heritages, but He is one God, the Father of our one Lord, Jesus Christ, known in the one Spirit we share. Our baptism seals this oneness of God among ourselves, and is the source of our bond with each other that reaches beyond the differences.
We are like a tapestry. Each thread brings color and texture to the piece, but we only see who we are when we are part of the whole picture created by all the threads. Like cats, we are much alike, yet each makes a particular difference in their pet owner’s life. We are all God’s children and Christ’s disciples in baptism, but each of us is loved differently by God according to what we need, so that we can know we are His own with a special mission to fulfill. Celebrate both dimensions of our faith. Let us each find our true selves in God, and see ourselves together sharing divine life as children of one Father. What is most common among us is what makes us most special to each other and to God.
